Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Who is Chan Kong-sang?

Who is Chan Kong-sang? The entertainment, acting and martial arts world knows him as Jackie Chan. Chan is a Hong Kong[2] actor, action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer.
In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 100 films. Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
As a cultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.

Early life

Chan was born on April 7, 1954, in Victoria Peak, in the former Crown colony of Hong Kong, as Chan Kong-sang (meaning "born in Hong Kong") to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. He was nicknamed Paopao (Chinese: 炮炮, literally meaning "Cannonball") because the high-energy child was always rolling around.[3] Since his parents worked for the French Consul to Hong Kong, Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.[4]
Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father immigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen.[4][5] Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.[6] He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, the three of them later to be known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons.[7]
At the age of 8, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes", in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962), with Li Li Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in The Love Eterne (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film, Come Drink with Me.[8] In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another Kong Fu film, A Touch of Zen, Chan began his adult career in the film industry, initially signing to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company.[9] At the age of 17, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung (Chinese: 陳元龍).[10] He received his first starring role later that year, in Little Tiger of Canton, which had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973.[11] Due to the commercial failures in his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, in 1975 Chan starred in a comedic adult film, All in the Family, which features Jackie Chan's first and possibly only nude sex scene filmed to date. It is also the only film he has made to date that did not feature a single fight scene or stunt sequence.[12]
Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker.[13] A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" which was later shortened to "Jackie" and the name Jackie Chan stuck with him ever since.[14] In addition, in the late 90s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung (Chinese: 房仕龍), since his father's original surname was Fong.[14]

Film career



Early exploits: 1976–1979

In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stuntwork. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury.[9] His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (Chinese: 成龍, also transcribed as Cheng Long,[15] literally "become the dragon") to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name was Lei Siu-lung (Chinese: 李小龍, meaning "Little Dragon"). The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, resulting in little improvement at the box office.[16]
Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal.[17] Under director Yuen Woo-ping, Chan was allowed complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved to be a breath of fresh air for the Hong Kong audience.[18] Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.[19]
Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of Drunken Master, producing Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu.[14] He also gave Chan the opportunity to co-direct The Fearless Hyena with Kenneth Tsang. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of Fearless Hyena Part II, Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.[20]

Success of the action comedy genre: 1980–1987



Willie Chan had become Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and has remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was Battle Creek Brawl in 1980. Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film The Cannonball Run, which grossed US$100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favour of established American actors like Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.
After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.[16]
Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982). The Young Master went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star.
Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in Project A, which won the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards.[21] Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in Wheels on Meals and the original Lucky Stars trilogy.[22][23] In 1985, Chan made the first Police Story film, a US-influenced action comedy in which Chan performed his own stunts. It was named the "Best Movie" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.[24] In 1987, Chan played "Asian Hawk", an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film Armour of God. The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success to date, grossing over HK $35 million.[25]

Acclaimed sequels and Hollywood breakthrough: 1988–1998




In 1988 Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date, in the film Dragons Forever. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.
In the late 1980s and early 90s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with Police Story 2, which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by Armour of God II: Operation Condor, and Police Story 3: Super Cop, for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in Drunken Master II, which was listed in Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies.[26] Another sequel, Police Story 4: First Strike, brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets.[27] Jackie Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film Demolition Man. Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.[28]
Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx, attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars.[29] The success of Rumble in the Bronx led to a 1996 release of Police Story 3: Super Cop in the United States under the title Supercop, which grossed a total of US $16,270,600. Jackie's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour,[30] grossing US$130 million in the United States alone.[20] This film made a star of Jackie Chan, in Hollywood. As a publicity stunt, Jackie also wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled I Am Jackie Chan.

Dramatization and fame in Hollywood: 1999–2007

In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, Who Am I? After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced Gorgeous, a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships.[31] Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture.[32]



Despite further success with Shanghai Noon in 2000, Rush Hour 2 in 2001 and Shanghai Knights and The Medallion in 2003, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the film-making process.[33] In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG).[20] His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include New Police Story (2004), The Myth (2005) and the hit film Rob-B-Hood (2006).[34][35][36]
Chan's next release was Rush Hour 3 in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million.[37] However, it performed poorly in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.[38]

New experiments and change in style: 2008–present

As Chan had stated years before, there would be a point in his life in which he would have to be modernized and use special effects, and try new different things than martial arts flicks. This began in 2007, with the filming of The Forbidden Kingdom (released in 2008), Chan's first onscreen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, which was completed on 24 August 2007 and the film was released in April 2008. The film featured heavy use of effects and wires.[39][40] Chan voiced the character Master Monkey in the DreamWorks Animation film, Kung Fu Panda, released in June 2008, appearing with stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.[41] In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film Wushu, released on May 1, 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.[42]
In November 2007, Chan began filming Shinjuku Incident, a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan.[43] The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing Shinjuku Incident, something he has not done for a number of years.[44] The film is expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and has a working title of Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac. Chan originally stated that he would start filming on April 1 2008, but that date had passed and the current state of the film is unknown.[45] Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie The Spy Next Door at the end of October in New Mexico,[46] In The Spy Next Door, Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend; Chan most likely did the film to appeal to his younger audience in America. In Little Big Soldier, Chan stars, alongside Leehom Wang in a non-martial arts comedy movie based on the Warring States Period.
On June 22 2009, Chan left Los Angeles to begin filming The Karate Kid, a remake of the original, in Beijing. [47] The film was released in America on June 11, 2010 and sees Chan's first dramatic American film. In the film, he plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character, Dre, kung-fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. In Chan's next movie, The New Shaolin Temple, instead of playing one of the major characters, he plays the Cook of the temple.

Stunts



Jackie Chan performs most[48] of his own stunts, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as The General directed by and starring Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts. Since its establishment in 1983, Chan has used the team in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities.[49] Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.[50]
The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult for Chan to get insurance, especially in the United States, where his stunt work is contractually limited.[50] Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts By A Living Actor", which emphasizes "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions, in which he performs all his own stunts".[51] In addition, he holds an unrecognised record for the most number of takes for a single shot in a film, having shot over 2900 retakes for a complex scene involving a badminton game in Dragon Lord.[52]
Chan has been injured numerous times attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming Armour of God, when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, Chan has dislocated his pelvis and broken his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle and ribs on numerous occasions.[53][54] Promotional materials for Rumble in the Bronx emphasized that Chan performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.

Filmography and screen persona

Further information: Jackie Chan filmography



Jackie Chan created his screen persona as a response to Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. In contrast to Lee's characters, who were typically stern, morally upright heroes, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular guys (often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends or families) who always triumph in the end despite the odds.[14] Additionally, Chan has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the Rush Hour series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie, nor understands American humour.[55] In the same interview Chan said that while he is not enamored with the films he makes in the U.S., and has repeatedly shown a lack of enthusiasm for some of his biggest Hollywood projects fearing that Chinese viewers may not understand them, he uses the high salaries from these pictures to fund Chinese projects that he is more interested in.[citation needed]
In recent years, the aging Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films.[56] In New Police Story, he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues.[57] To further shed the image of Mr. Nice Guy, Chan played an anti-hero for the first time in Rob-B-Hood starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems.[58]

Television work




In 2000, Chan hosted a fictionalised version of himself in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures, which ran until 2005.[59]
In July 2008, the BTV reality television series entitled The Disciple (simplified Chinese: 龙的传人; traditional Chinese: 龍的傳人, lit. "Disciple of the Dragon") concluded. The series was produced by, and featured Jackie Chan. The aim of the program was to find a new star, skilled in acting and martial arts, to become Chan's "successor" and student in filmmaking. Contestants were trained by Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Alan Wu and He Jun and competed in various fields, including explosion scenes, high-altitude wire-suspension, gunplay, car stunts, diving, obstacles courses etc. The regular judges on the program were He Ping, Wu Yue and Cheng Pei Pei. Guest judges include Stanley Tong, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The "Finals" began on 5 April 2008, with 16 contestants remaining, and concluded on 26 June 2008. Amongst those in attendance were Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ng See Yuen and Yu Rongguang.
The winner of the series was Jack Tu (Tu Sheng Cheng). Along with runners up Yang Zheng and Jerry Liau, Tu is now set to star in three modern Chinese action films, one of which was scripted by Chan, and all three will be co-produced by Chan and his company JCE Movies Limited. The films will be entitled Speedpost 206, Won't Tell You and Tropical Tornado and will be directed by Xie Dong, Jiang Tao and Cai Rong Hui. All 16 finalists will be given the opportunity to work on the films, or to join the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. Production on the first film is due to begin in September 2008. In addition, the finalists will be given roles in a forthcoming BTV action series.[60][61][62]

Music career


Jackie Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of The Young Master (1980).[63] At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films.[57][64] His cantonese song Story of a Hero (英雄故事) (theme song of Police Story) was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.[65]
Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature, Mulan (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond.
In 2007, Chan recorded and released the song "We Are Ready", the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics. He performed the song at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[66]
The day before the Beijing Olympics opened, Chan released one of the two official Olympics albums, Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - Jackie Chan's Version, which featured a number of special guest appearances.[67] Chan, along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, performed "Hard to Say Goodbye", the farewell song for the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[68]

Image and celebrity status




Jackie Chan has received worldwide recognition for his acting, having won several awards including an Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards.[69] He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars.[70] Despite considerable box office success in The Northsouth Territories, Chan's American films have been criticised with regard to the action choreography. Reviewers of Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, and Shanghai Knights criticised the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films.[71][72][73] The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stated it can be childish at times.[74]
Chan is a cultural icon, having been referenced in Ash's song "Kung Fu", Heavy Vegetable's "Jackie Chan Is a Punk Rocker", Leehom Wang's "Long Live Chinese People", as well as in "Jackie Chan" by Frank Chickens, and television shows Celebrity Deathmatch and Family Guy. He has been the inspiration for manga such as Dragon Ball (including a character with the alias "Jackie Chun"),[75] the character Lei Wulong in Tekken and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan.[76][77][78] In addition, Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors. As a result, Mitsubishi cars can be found in a number of Jackie Chan films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi honoured Chan by launching Evolution, a limited series of cars which he personally customised.[79][80][81]
A number of video games have featured Jackie Chan. Before Stuntmaster, Chan already had a game of his own, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and NES. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade fighting game Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master. In addition, a series of Japanese Jackie Chan games were released on the MSX by Pony, based on several of his films (Project A, Project A 2, Police Story, The Protector and Wheels On Meals).[82]
Chan has always wanted to be a role model to children, remaining popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has refused to play villains and has almost never used the word "fuck" in his films (He's only said that word in two films, The Protector and Burn, Hollywood, Burn), but in Rush Hour, in an attempt to be "cool" and imitate his partner Carter, who said "What's up, my nigga?" to a club of black men, he said the same thing when Carter was in another room and they all attacked him, so he had to pull out his fighting skills to beat them down and escape.[83] Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received proper education,[84] inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University[85] and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.[86]



Chan is a spokesperson for the Government of Hong Kong, appearing in public service announcements. In a Clean Hong Kong commercial, he urged the people of Hong Kong to be more considerate with regards to littering, a problem that has been widespread for decades.[87] Furthermore, in an advertisement promoting nationalism, he gave a short explanation of the March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.[88] When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, Chan participated in the opening ceremony.[89] In the United States, Chan appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat copyright infringement and made another public service announcement with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to encourage people, especially Asians, to join the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.[90][91]
Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. Work began in July 2008 and although was scheduled to be completed on October 2009, as of January 2010 it is still under construction.[92]

Controversies

During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China presidential election, 2004 in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as President and Vice-President as "the biggest joke in the world."[93] Chan's comments were criticized by Parris Chang, a Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, who called for the government of Taiwan to take punitive steps against Chan for his comments, such as banning his movies and barring him the right to visit Taiwan.[94] Some 50 police and security personnel were required to separate protesters from Chan, as they were attempting to spit at him when he arrived at Taipei airport for a charity sponsored by cable TV channel TVBS on 18 June 2008.[95] Chan insisted that his remarks were not intended to insult the people of Taiwan.[96]
Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government, including China's human rights record and the political status of Taiwan. He warned that he would lash out against anyone planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch, saying, "Demonstrators better not get anywhere near me." In addition Chan felt that the protesters were publicity seekers. 'They are doing it for no reason. They just want to show off on the TV,' he said. 'They know, "if I can get the torch, I can go on the TV for the world news".' Chan felt the country was trying to improve and the Olympics is a chance for the country to open up and learn from the outside world and vice versa. "We are not right about everything. Things are getting better in China but we can change and are changing. We want to learn from the rest of the world as well as teach others about our ways and our culture." [97]
On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia titled "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," Chan said "...in the 10 years after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, I can gradually see, I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not."[98] Chan went on to say, "If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." He also added, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." Chan however complained about the quality of Chinese goods, saying, "...a Chinese TV might explode."[99] but refrained from criticizing the Chinese government for banning his 2009 film Shinjuku Incident.[100] Chan's comments prompted an angry response from some legislators and other prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Legislator Leung Kwok-hung said that Chan "insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets."[101] The Hong Kong Tourism Board stated that it had received 164 comments and complaints from the public over Chan's remarks.[102] A spokesman for Chan told reporters that the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry rather than Chinese society at large and that certain people with "ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he said."[103]

Entrepreneurship and philanthropy

In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan also owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions[104] (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions.[105]
Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-ran by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first - Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema - opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. 15 further cinemas in the chain are planned for 2010, throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.[106] [107]
In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC".[108] Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea and one in Hawaii, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes. He also hopes to expand into furniture and kitchenware, and is also considering a branded supermarket.[109] With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.
Chan is a keen philanthropist and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, having worked tirelessly to champion charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation, against animal abuse and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.[5][110][111] In June 2006, he announced the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death, citing his admiration of the effort made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need.[112] On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University in Canberra. Jackie Chan is also a supporter of the Save China's Tigers project which aims at saving the endangered South China Tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild; he is currently an ambassador for this conservation project.[113] Chan has many historic artifacts, such as old door frames from 2000 years ago. He also owns the Jinricksha Station in Singapore.
In April 2008, Jackie Chan was invited for the audio launch of an Indian film, entitled Dasavathaaram (2008) in Chennai (Madras), where he shared the dais with Indian celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty and Kamal Hassan. Though he did not understand a word of Tamil, Chan was touched by the Indian community's love for him and his films, and was impressed with the movie Dasavathaaram, expressing a keen interest in working with the star of the film, Kamal Hassan. Hassan himself reciprocated the desire to work with the action superstar, urging Chan to keep his promise of working with him on a possible film project.
Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB ¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he is planning to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors.

 The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation

Founded in 1988, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation offers scholarships and active help to Hong Kong's young people through a variety of worthy causes. Over the years, the foundation has broadened its scope to include provision of medical services, aid to victims of natural disaster or illness, and projects where the major beneficiaries are Hong Kong people or organizations. Major donation projects of The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation

  • The Jackie Chan Gymnasium at Lingnan University
  • The Jackie Chan Challenge Cup Intercollegiate Invitation Tournament
  • The Jackie Chan Family Unit, Hong Kong Girl Guides Association Jockey Club Beas River Lodge
  • The Jackie Chan Whole Person Development Center
  • Renovation of the Bethanie Site, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
  • Medical Funding in Mainland China (Operation Smile)
  • Medical Donation in Hong Kong (Queen Mary Hospital, SARS Relief)
  • Support for the Performing Arts
  • Youth Development Programs

The Dragon's Heart Foundation

The Dragon's Heart Foundation was founded in 2005 to fulfill the desperate needs of children and the elderly in remote areas of China. Since 2005, the Dragon's Heart Foundation has built over a dozen schools, provided books, fees, and uniforms, and has raised millions of dollars to give much-needed educational opportunities for the poor. In addition, the Dragon's Heart Foundation provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items. Jackie often travels to the remote locations to attend groundbreakings or school openings, and to lend support and encouragement.






Awards and nominations


Hong Kong Film Awards
(10 Best Actor Nominations, 7 Best Action Choreography Nominations, 3 Film Nominations, 1 Best Director Nomination, 1 Best Original Film Song Nomination)

Personal life

In 1982, Jackie Chan married Lin Feng-Jiao (aka Joan Lin), a Taiwanese actress. That same year, the two had a son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan.[33]
He speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and English fluently, and also speaks some German, Korean and Japanese, as well as a little Spanish.[114]


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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Who is Randall Stuart Newman?

Who is Randall Stuart Newman? The music and entertainment world knows him as Randy Newman. Newman  is an American singer/songwriter,[1] arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant (and often satirical) pop songs and for film scores.

Newman often writes lyrics from the perspective of a character far removed from Newman's own experiences. For example, the 1972 song "Sail Away" is written as a slave trader's sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S. nationalist who complains of worldwide ingratitude toward America and proposes a brutally ironic final solution. One of his biggest hits, "Short People" was written from the perspective of "a lunatic"[2] who hates short people. Since the 1980s, Newman has worked mostly as a film composer. His film scores include Ragtime, Awakenings, The Natural, Leatherheads, James and the Giant Peach, Meet the Parents, Seabiscuit and The Princess and the Frog. He has scored sixDisney-Pixar films: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Cars and most recently Toy Story 3.
He has been awarded two Academy Awards, three Emmys, five Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy.[3] Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2007, Newman was inducted as a Disney Legend.[4] In 2011, Newman won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Toy Story 3's "We Belong Together", which was also his 11th nomination for Best Original Song.

Early life

Newman was born November 28, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, the son of Adele (née Fox), a secretary, and Irving George Newman, an internist.[5] He lived in New Orleans as a small child and spent summers there until he was 11 years old, his family having by then returned to Los Angeles. The paternal side of his family includes three uncles who were noted Hollywood film-score composers: Alfred Newman, Lionel Newman and Emil Newman. Newman's cousins Thomas and David, and nephew Joey are also composers for motion pictures. He graduated from University High School in Los Angeles. Newman attended the University of California, Los Angeles.

Songwriter

Newman has been a professional songwriter since he was seventeen. He cites Ray Charles as his greatest influence growing up, stating, "I loved Charles' music to excess."[6] His first single as a performer was 1961's "Golden Gridiron Boy", released when he was eighteen. However, the single flopped and Newman chose to concentrate on songwriting and arranging for the next several years. His early songs were recorded by Gene Pitney, Jerry Butler, Jackie DeShannon, The O'Jays and Irma Thomas, among others. His work as a songwriter met with particular success in the UK: top 40 UK hits written by Newman included Cilla Black's "I've Been Wrong Before" (#17, 1965), Gene Pitney's "Nobody Needs Your Love" (#2, 1966) and "Just One Smile" (#8, 1966); and The Alan Price Set's "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear" (#4, 1967). Besides "Simon Smith", Price featured seven Randy Newman songs on his 1967 A Price On His Head album.

In the mid-1960s, Newman was briefly a member of the band The Tikis, who later became Harpers Bizarre, best known for their 1967 hit version of the Paul Simon composition "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)". Newman kept a close musical relationship with Harpers Bizarre, offering them some of his own compositions, including "Simon Smith" and "Happyland". The band recorded six Newman compositions during their short initial career (1967–1969).

In this period, Newman began a long professional association with childhood friend Lenny Waronker. Waronker had been hired to produce The Tikis, the Beau Brummels, and The Mojo Men, who were all contracted to the Los Angeles independent label Autumn Records, and he in turn brought in Newman, Leon Russell and another friend, pianist/arranger Van Dyke Parks, to play on recording sessions. Later in 1966 Waronker was hired as an A&R manager by Warner Bros. Records and his friendship with Newman, Russell, and Parks began a creative circle around Waronker at Warner Bros that became one of the keys to Warner Bros' subsequent success as a rock music label.[7]

Recording artist

His 1968 debut album, Randy Newman, was a critical success but never dented the Billboard Top 200. Many artists, including Alan Price,Dave Van Ronk, Judy Collins, the Everly Brothers, Claudine Longet, Dusty Springfield, Nina Simone, Pat Boone and Peggy Lee, covered his songs and "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" became an early standard.
In 1969, he did the orchestral arrangements for Peggy Lee's single Is That All There Is?, as well as her album with the same title (which also contained her cover versions of two of his songs: "Love Story" and "Linda").[8]
In 1970, Harry Nilsson recorded an entire album of Newman compositions called Nilsson Sings Newman. That album was a success, and it paved the way for Newman's 1970 release, 12 Songs, a more stripped-down sound that showcased Newman's piano. Ry Cooder's slide guitar and contributions from Byrds members Gene Parsons and Clarence White helped to give the album a much rootsier feel. 12 Songs was also critically acclaimed (6th best album of the seventies according to Rolling Stone critic Robert Christgau), but again found little commercial success, though Three Dog Night made a huge hit of his "Mama Told Me Not to Come". The following year, Randy Newman Live cemented his cult following and became his first LP to appear in the Billboard charts, at #191. Newman also made his first foray into music for films at this time, writing and performing the theme song "He Gives Us All His Love" for Norman Lear's 1971 film Cold Turkey.
1972's Sail Away reached #163 on Billboard, with the title track making its way into the repertoire of Ray Charles and Linda Ronstadt. "You Can Leave Your Hat On" enigmatically touches on what it is men find important in relationships, and was covered by Three Dog Night, thenJoe Cocker, and later by Keb Mo, Etta James, Tom Jones (whose version was later used for the final striptease to the 1997 film The Full Monty), and the Québécois singer Garou. The album also featured "Burn On", an ode to an infamous incident in which the heavily pollutedCuyahoga River literally caught fire. In 1989, "Burn On" was used as the opening theme to the film Major League, whose focus was the hapless Cleveland Indians.
His 1974 release Good Old Boys was a set of songs about the American South. "Rednecks" began with a description of segregationistLester Maddox pitted against a "smart-ass New York Jew" on a TV show, in a song that seems to criticize both southern racism and the complacent bigotry of American north-easterners who stereotype all southerners as racist yet ignore racism in northern states. This ambiguity was also apparent on "Kingfish" and "Every Man a King", the former a paean to Huey Long (the assassinated former Governor andUnited States Senator from Louisiana), the other a campaign song written by Long himself. An album that received lavish critical praise, Good Old Boys also became a commercial breakthrough for Newman, peaking at #36 on Billboard and spending 21 weeks in the Top 200.
Little Criminals (1977) contained the surprise hit "Short People," which also became a subject of controversy. In September 1977, the Britishmusic magazine, NME reported the following interview with Newman talking about his then new release. "There's one song about a child murderer," Newman deadpans. "That's fairly optimistic. Maybe. There's one called 'Jolly Coppers on Parade' which isn't an absolutely anti-police song. Maybe it's even a fascist song. I didn't notice at the time. There's also one about me as a cowboy called 'Rider in the Rain.' I think it's ridiculous. The Eagles are on there. That's what's good about it. There's also this song 'Short People.' It's purely a joke. I like other ones on the album better but the audiences go for that one."[9] The album proved Newman's most popular to date, reaching #9 on the US Billboard 200 chart.
1979's Born Again featured a song satirically mythologizing the Electric Light Orchestra (and their arranging style) entitled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band".

His 1983 album Trouble in Paradise included the hit single "I Love L.A.", a song that has been interpreted as both praising and criticizing the city of Los Angeles. This ambivalence is borne out by Newman's own comments on the song. As he explained in a 2001 interview, "There's some kind of ignorance L.A. has that I'm proud of. The open car and the redhead, the Beach Boys...that sounds 'really' good to me." TheABC network and Frank Gari Productions transformed "I Love L.A." into a popular 1980s TV promotional campaign, retooling the lyrics and title to "You'll Love It! (on ABC)". The song is played at home games for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Lakers.
In the years following Trouble in Paradise, Newman focused more on film work, but his personal life entered a difficult period. He separated from his wife of nearly 20 years, Roswitha, and was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus. He has released three albums of new material as a singer-songwriter since that time: Land of Dreams (1988), Bad Love (1999), and Harps and Angels, which was released on August 5, 2008.Land of Dreams included one of his most well-known songs, "It's Money That Matters", and featured Newman's first stab at autobiography with "Dixie Flyer" and "Four Eyes", while Bad Love included "I Miss You", a moving tribute to his ex-wife. He has also re-recorded a number of his earlier songs, accompanying himself on piano, as The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 (2003), and continues to perform his songs before live audiences as a touring concert artist.

In the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe of 2005, Newman's "Louisiana 1927" became an anthem and was played heavily on a wide range of American radio and television stations, in both Newman's 1974 original and Aaron Neville's cover version of the song. The song addresses the deceitful manner in which New Orleans's municipal government managed a flood in 1927, during which, as Newman asserts, "The guys who ran the Mardi Gras, the bosses in New Orleans decided the course of that flood. You know, they cut a hole in the levee and it flooded the cotton fields."[10] In a related performance, Newman contributed to the 2007 release of Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino(Vanguard), contributing his version of Domino's "Blue Monday". Domino had been rescued from his New Orleans home after Hurricane Katrina, initially having been feared dead.

Film composer

 He returned to film work with 1981'sRagtime, for which he was nominated for two Academy Awards. Newman co-wrote the 1986 film ¡Three Amigos! with Steve Martin and Lorne Michaels, wrote three songs for the film, and provided the voice for the singing bush. His orchestral film scores resembles the work of Elmer Bernstein (with whom he had worked on ¡Three Amigos!) and Maurice Jarre.

Newman scored four Disney/Pixar feature films; Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc. He also scored the 1996 film James and the Giant Peach and the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars. He returned to Disney/Pixar to score the 2010 film Toy Story 3 and 2011's Cars 2. Additional scores by Newman include Avalon, Parenthood, Seabiscuit, Awakenings, The Paper, Overboard, Meet the Parents, and its sequel, Meet the Fockers. His score for Pleasantville was an Academy Award nominee. He also wrote the songs for Turner's Cats Don't Dance.

One of Newman's most iconic and recognizable works is the central theme to The Natural, a dramatic and Oscar-nominated score, which was described by at least one complimentary critic[who?] as "Coplandesque".
Newman had the dubious distinction of receiving the most Oscar nominations (fifteen) without a single win. His losing streak was broken when he received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2001, for the Monsters, Inc. song "If I Didn't Have You", beating Sting, Enyaand Paul McCartney. After receiving a standing ovation, a bemused but emotional Newman began his acceptance speech with "I don't want your pity!"
Besides writing songs for films, he also writes songs for television series such as the Emmy-Award winning current theme song of Monk, "It's a Jungle out There". Newman also composed the Emmy-Award winning song "When I'm Gone" for the final episode.
In October 2006, it was revealed that Newman would write the music for the Walt Disney movie The Princess and the Frog, which was released in December 2009. During the Walt Disney Company's annual shareholder meeting in March 2007, Newman performed a new song written for the movie. He was accompanied by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The New Orleans setting of the film played to Newman's musical strengths, and his songs contained elements of Cajun music, zydeco, blues and Dixieland jazz.[11] Two of the songs, "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans," were nominated for Oscars.[12]
In total, Mr Newman has received twenty Oscar nominations (up to and including 2011's nomination for We Belong Together), with two wins, "not a good percentage", as he said to laughter in his 2011 acceptance speech.

Filmography

Musical theatre

A revue of Newman's songs, titled Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong, was performed at the Astor Place Theater in New York City in 1982, and later at other theaters around the country. The New York cast featured Mark Linn-Baker and Deborah Rush,[13] and at one point included Treat Williams.[14]
In the 1990s, Newman adapted Goethe's Faust into a concept album and musical, Randy Newman's Faust. After a 1995 staging at the La Jolla Playhouse, he retained David Mamet to help rework the book before its relaunch on the Chicago Goodman Theatre mainstage in 1996. Newman's Faust project had been many years in the making, and it suffered for it; a central joke was Newman's depiction of Faust as a shallow heavy metal music fan in thrall to Satan, and this had to be modified to accommodate the less-than-devil obsessed age of grunge rock that was in fashion by 1995.
In 2000, South Coast Repertory (SCR) produced The Education of Randy Newman, a musical theater piece that recreates the life of a songwriter who bears some resemblance to the actual Newman. Set in New Orleans and Los Angeles, it was modeled on the celebrated American autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams. Newman, together with Jerry Patch and Michael Roth, surveyed Newman's songs to find those that, taken together, depict the life of an American artist in the last half of the 20th century. After its premiere at SCR, it was reworked with additional songs written specifically for the show by Newman and presented in Seattle by ACT.
In 2010, the Center Theatre Group staged Harps and Angels, a musical revue of the Randy Newman songbook, interspersed with narratives reflecting on Newman's inspirations. The revue premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and included, among other songs "I Think It’s Going to Rain Today," "Sail Away," "Marie," "Louisiana 1927," "Feels Like Home," "You've Got a Friend in Me" and "I Love L.A." The revue was directed by Jerry Zaks and featured Ryder Bach, Storm Large, Adriane Lenox, Michael McKean, Katey Sagal and Matthew Saldivar. [15]

Notable performances and appearances

  • In 2000, Newman hosted a PBS special on Sunset Blvd, in his native Los Angeles. Driving a convertible, he followed the road from the Amtrak train station downtown, through Silver Lake, on past his alma mater UCLA, and finished in Santa Monica.
  • Randy Newman appeared on The Colbert Report on October 9, 2006, performing "Political Science" after his interview. At the end of the performance Stephen Colbert said "I hope they're listening in D.C." This appearance came days after North Korea conducted anunderground test of a nuclear weapon.
  • Newman appeared on the season two finale of the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, accompanying the character Harry Solomon's performance of "Life Has Been Good To Me" on piano in a dream sequence.
  • He appeared as a musical guest at the end of the Keynote Address at Macworld's 2008 San Francisco Macworld Expo, performing the songs "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" and "You've Got a Friend in Me".
  • Newman appeared as a musical guest on the second episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1975.

Discography


Albums

Compilations

Other Contributions

Film scores

Awards and honors

  • Golden Globe
    • 2000: Nominee - Original Song - "When She Loved Me" - Toy Story 2 
    • 1999: Nominee - Original Score - A Bug's Life
    • 1996: Nominee - Original Song - "You've Got a Friend in Me" - Toy Story
    • 1991: Nominee - Original Score - Avalon
    • 1990: Nominee - Original Song - "I Love to See You Smile" - Parenthood
    • 1982: Nominee - Original Song - "One More Hour" - Ragtime
  • Annie Award
    • 2007: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Cars
    • 2003: Nominee - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Monsters, Inc.
    • 2000: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Toy Story 2
    • 1997: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Cats Don't Dance
    • 1996: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Toy Story

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